Bruce Springsteen fans will be offered refunds after Philly concerts were postponed

When Bruce Springsteen postponed two concerts last week, he not only left diehard fans “devastated” and “worried” on the streets — and in the stadium parking lots — of Philadelphia.

He also left them out hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Soon, however, ticket holders will be able to get refunds by going to phillies.com/springsteen when new dates are announced.

“We are hopeful to have a new date in the next couple of days, and once that new date is announced, everyone will have a 30-day window to fill out a refund request form and get a refund,” Phillies spokesperson Deb Rinaldi said Tuesday in an email. “Obviously all existing tickets are good for the new show if they choose to hold onto them.”

For fans who bought their tickets on a secondary market site such as StubHub or SeatGeek, their seats will also be valid for the rescheduled show, Rinaldi said, but they will need to check with their reseller regarding refunds.

Springsteen’s camp had yet to announce rescheduled dates as of Tuesday. Given the Phillies’ schedule, it seems unlikely the Citizens Bank Park shows will happen before 2024, leaving consumers in limbo. A Springsteen tour spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

The law in Pennsylvania doesn’t address what rights ticket holders have in the event of a concert postponement, as opposed to a cancellation, consumer experts said, leaving the policies of sellers and the decisions of individual event organizers to dictate what options fans have.

In general, “there are not a lot of clear rights on this,” said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. The lack of transparency gives consumers reason to be anxious. “If they reschedule it for next July and it’s the same weekend your sister is getting married, then that’s a problem and you can’t go.”

It’s a reality that left music fans nationwide frustrated in the early months of the pandemic, as some struggled to get back thousands of dollars in tickets for concerts that were postponed indefinitely.

Even once a concert is rescheduled, event organizers aren’t obligated to offer refunds, and popular resellers such as StubHub and SeatGeek can’t offer refunds unless the event is canceled outright.

“I think it’s incumbent on any artist … to do the right thing” and give fans the option of a refund when a show is postponed or rescheduled, said John Breyault, a vice president at the National Consumers League.

“When they postpone and don’t offer you another date, you’re essentially giving them thousands of dollars in no-interest loans,” Breyault said.

Experts said it never hurts to be politely proactive and contact your ticket seller sooner — especially if you have an extenuating circumstance that makes it unlikely you’ll make any rescheduled date. Though, it may be hard to make your case for a refund until a new date is announced.

“If they don’t have another date within a month, it’d be time to be concerned for sure and to go ahead and take another step,” such as contacting the ticket seller or your credit card company, Murray said. (Beware though that a credit card company may not be much help for purchases made more than a couple months ago.)

Consumer advocates want to see more transparency in all aspects of the ticket-buying process, pushing to end hidden “junk fees” and make refund policies more clear. They are in favor of “the Boss and Swift Act” legislation introduced in the spring by Democratic U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, which would mandate disclosure of refund policies for concert tickets, among a bevy of other measures.